The time has come for giants to launch baseballs into the night sky. Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby arrives Monday evening at Nationals Park as a leather-smashing appetizer for the 89th All-Star Game on Tuesday.
The Derby since 2015 features eight players each with four minutes to hit as many home runs as possible. They all get a 30-second timeout during the round to catch their breath. When to take that timeout is up to the hitter.
That format has changed the calculus for Derby participants. Over the three years of the new format, the number of long balls required to win the event has varied widely. Todd Frazier needed only 39 in 2015. Giancarlo Stanton bashed 61 in 2016 and Aaron Judge hit 47 last year.
But more consistent results have come from the college ranks, which use the same format. Twenty homers per four-minute round is usually enough to win the bracket-style event. Air Force first baseman Nic Ready hit 21 in the final round to hold off Clemson’s switch hitting shortstop Logan Davidson for the 2018 title.
We asked both Ready and Davidson the keys to mashing taters in a televised competitive batting practice. They pointed out five keys to success.
You better be in really good shape if you want to compete in this kind of event.
For Ready, taking some vigorous rounds of batting practice at elevation — the Air Force Academy is 7,258 feet above sea level — was enough to stay in shape, but just to be sure, he limited his rest between four-minute practice rounds to only a couple minutes. Hitters normally rest for closer to 15 minutes after strenuous sessions in the cage.